Archive for February, 2011

Uranus is in retrograde by Trevor C. Hale In hot pursuit of a Lunar New Year party on Smith Lake and the illicit pleasures it promised, we were hopelessly lost. Such was the typical high school weekend growing up in Cullman. Armed with dubious directions, barreling down a winding two-lane road in the middle of… Read More

by Brett Levine, Photo by Beau Gustafson If you speak to Alicia Clavell, you may think she’s a woman of few words. But that is only because she prefers to pour everything out on the page. “I told you it would have been better if you had simply sent me some questions,” she laughs as we… Read More

Women as the aggressors A no–no or a sure–go? by Samantha “Sam” Foster I recently re-read a book that I’d first heard of years ago through a friend called The Rules, written by renowned dating coaches, Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider. It was rumored when Carolyn Bessette nabbed the dashing John F. Kennedy, Jr. that… Read More

Take a lesson from Julius. by Paget Pizitz Bonjour March, I hope to see your plus one this month is spring. As I write this column, I’m trying to decide if I am going to need an ice scraper to clear my windshield so I can drive to get LTC (Louis the Cat) bread and… Read More

Challenge: Reconnect to Your Inner Child! by Lee Ann Brown “The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.” —e. e. cummings That is my very favorite quote. I do find laughter very glamorous. I truly love to laugh, and laugh often. It signifies happiness, fun, a sense of humor, a connection to someone… Read More

Charles Elmer’s Spanish Clam dish makes for a perfect family meal. Photography by Beau Gustafson Spanish and South American dishes. He shares this treasured pasttime with wife Julie, also an attorney, and their children, Charles and Grace. Herer Charles shares a favorite clam dish. Like many Spanish clam dishes it has no name. Charles’s Favorite Clam Dish… Read More

Signs of life begin to emerge. by Charlie Thigpen March quickly makes us forget about our brutally cold winter. The seasons are changing as the drab, dormant hues of brown and gray morph into chartreuse green foliage and a riot of blooms. As the soil warms, the landscape changes quickly and plump buds unfurl daily…. Read More

(Confessions of a NumLock) by Francis Hare Over the past several months I’ve had three paradigm-shifting experiences in my personal relationship with the computer. The first occurred last April. My office email program crashed, and I lost every single message I had sent over the previous two months. Several hours after I regained consciousness, I… Read More

Cheesy good. by John-Bryan Hopkins Spring is here! In with the old and out with the new…or is that the other way around? Grilled Cheese, Please! 50 Scrumptiously Cheesy Recipes by Laura Werlin – one of the nation’s foremost experts on cheese and an award-winning cookbook author – shares 50 deletable recipes that promote the… Read More

Toast the end of a frosty winter with Champagne Delamotte Brut by Jan Walsh, Photography by Beau Gustafson It has been an icy winter. Spring 2011 is ready to bloom, and the only icy frost I want to see is on a bottle of Champagne Delamotte Brut. Champagne Delamotte celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2010…. Read More

Bellini’s Cheese Ravioli is a plateful of comfort. By Jan Walsh Photography by Beau Gustafson It is believed that ravioli was invented as a means to use left over food and originated in Liguria, Italy. Thus the original name—Rabiole—means bits and pieces, odds and ends in Genoese dialect. Agnolotti is a variation from Piedmont,… Read More